What is Washboard Express?

Washboard Express is a way for me to express my own opinions, to be a provocative gadfly, by writing a "letter a day" to the President. I may miss a day here and there, because sometimes my family with be my first priority, but my goal is to write a total of 365 letters, representing one full year. To say I have opinions about most things would be to understate the obvious. Those of you that know me, know this is true, those who don't know me, will learn that it's true. The Washboard is a reference to going back to basics and "keeping it clean," so if you would like me to post your comments or opinions on this blog, I only ask that you be respectful. So go ahead, express yourself, and I look forward to an exchange of ideas and opinions.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I’m not sure that you’re getting up to date reports on the OWS movement in other parts of the country, but the Occupy Oakland Movement turned violent and ugly overnight, and I’m not talking about the protesters turning violent and ugly… it was the police.

Photo by Patrick Nichols... Oakland CA. on 10.25.11 "This is what the First Amendment really looks like in America. Take a long hard look, because it is coming to a city near you."

Just a few days ago the Occupy Oakland movement was the poster child for how a peaceful demonstration is supposed to be run, and why it’s important to do it right if we really want people to believe that we want to protect our first amendment right to free speech. It’s important because it sets the movement apart from an ordinary mob that destroys public and private property while running rampant through the streets… like we witnessed in Rome recently.

Our protests are peaceful, respectful, and absolutely non-violent. The only violence by protesters occurred after they were tear-gassed, shot with beanbags and rubber bullets, blasted by sound cannons that made it sound like a war zone, and shoved around like piles of trash. I’ve watched countless videos and listened to protesters and reporters, and by all accounts the protesters were, for the most part non-violent. There were witnesses that saw one man throw a rock and someone else threw green paint on a police officer, but otherwise they did not resist arrest.

The Occupy Oakland setup had a kitchen set up for feeding the people, a first aid tent to take care of basic health and safety needs, and port-a-potties for sanitation needs. The people had been allowed to “camp” there since the beginning… so what happened on Tuesday at 4:30 am when hundreds of police were deployed in full riot gear to roust the occupiers? It’s been reported that there were rats around and that people were urinating in public, but I have to ask if that’s really true, or just an excuse to stop a group of protesters from becoming a “model” of the movement… a model that other cities don’t want to have duplicated in there town squares and cities. Did someone ‘get’ to Mayor Jean Quan and force her to use near lethal force on a ‘peaceful’ group of sleeping protesters?

Photo by: Patrick Nichols, Oakland, CA on 10.25.11

You may not want to get involved with the “Occupy Movements” Mr. President, but I assure you, they are not going away… When you have single mothers with children, teachers, educators, nurses, union members, and Veterans protesting, you know there is something wrong in America, and it’s not going away any time soon. I strongly suggest you ‘tune in’ and watch some of the Occupy Oakland videos and then contact Mayor Quan and ask her what the heck she was thinking when she ordered the assault on people exercising their right to peacefully assemble.

At some point in time you will need to address the complaints of the 99% because these people are “mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore.”

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About Me

Having just retired after 15 years in magazine publishing, I thought I would venture into the wide world of Blogging. In my 66 years I've gained some insight about a few things. Most are silly observations about life in general. Some are serious, involving politics, and what I perceive to be right and wrong. My goal is to be somewhat of a gadfly, so if I goad you one way or the other, I've accomplished my goal.